Container



June 16, 1942. w. v. ROBERTS CONTAINER Filed April a, 1958 HAS A TTORNEY Patented an. 16, 1942 CONTAINER William V. Roberts;akland, Calif., assignor to California Container Corporation, Emeryville, Calif., a corporation of Delaware Application April 8, 1938, Serial No. 200,877

1 Claim.

My invention relates to containers, and more particularly to a display container particularly adapted for the retail merchandising of fruits, vegetables and other products.

It is an object of my invention to provide a display container for the sanitary handling and merchandising of food products.

Otherobjects of my invention are: To provide a display container which is capable of being formed from a single blank; to provide a container of simple construction and one which lends itself readily to manufacture by automatic machinery; and to provide a container which is adapted to be shipped or distributed in knockeddown form and which may be readily assembled for the display and merchandising of vendable products.

My invention possesses other objects and features of advantage, some of which, with the foregoing, will be set forth in the following description of my invention. It is to be understood,

however, that I do not limit myself to this disclosure of the species of my invention, as I may adopt variant embodiments thereof within the scope of the claim.

Referring to the drawing:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a container embodying my invention.

Figure 2 is a plan view of the blank comprising my container as it appears before assembly, parts of the blank being broken away to conserve space.

Figure 3 is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken along the line 3-3 of Figure 1, and illustrates the interlocked relation of structure in one form of assembly.

Figure 4 is a perspective view of a container of my invention, illustrating a variant form of assembly. v

Broadly considered, my invention comprises a tubular-shaped body, formed from asingle sheet of foldable material such as corrugated I board. Tabs are provided which are preferably cut from the sheet in such manner that one end thereof is integrally connected thereto at a point adjacent the edge which becomes the end of the body when the sheet is folded. These tabs are each adapted to be folded inwardly across the end of the body to form end walls therefor and thus hold the products within the container. Display openings are provided in one side of the tubular body and through which the contents of the container may be exposed to the view of prospective purchasers. These openings are preferably defined and formed in the side of the body by the tabs; however, the display opening may be provided by leaving a space between the side edges of the sheet when the tubular body is formed. Means is further provided for securing the container in assembled condition.

In greater detail, my invention comprises a generally square or rectangular sheet ,5 of foldable material. In this connection I prefer to employ corrugated board, the corrugations of which are exposed on one side so that the sheet may be readily folded along the corrugations yet possess added strength to resist deformation laterally thereof; furthermore, the corrugated surface when folded upon itself provides a natural lock to prevent slippage between the folds, and the entire structure while being of exceedingly light weight is exceptionally stron and durable.

In forming the container the sheet 5 is folded or rolled to bring the sides 6 thereof into adjacent relationship to'provide a tubular body I having cross-sectional shapes as illustrated in Figures 1 and 4 ,or such other cross-sectional shape as may be determined by the contour or arrangement of the product to be packaged.

The loss of the products from the ends of the container is prevented by means of tabs 8 and 9 which are preferably cut from sheet- 5 in the manner illustrated in Figure 2 and provided with parallel transverse scores II to facilitate folding or bending thereof. The tabs may be separately formed, however, and secured to the body in any well-known manner, such as by staples or glue. The tabs are preferably of such shape and length as to fold inwardly across the end of the container and form an end wall or partial closure therefor. In some cases, such as shown in Figure 1, I prefer'to bend the distal portion of the tab so as to enfold the end edge of the body and by means of staples l2 passing through the folds of the tab and the walls of the body secure the container in assembled condition and prevent withdrawal or dislodgment of the tab. In other cases I may, as shown in Figure 4, secure the overlapping sides 6 of the sheet together by suitable fastening means such as staples I3 to retain the body in position, and fold the distal portion M of the tab so that it points into the container and rests upon the inner surface thereof, being secured and held in frictional 'contact zhezgwith by the pressure of the container con- I have found it advantageous in some cases to fold one side 6 of the sheet back upon itself (see Figure 3) to provide a narrow strip 15 with corrugations facing outwardly so that when the.

placed upon the sheet between the inwardly I folded tabs and then the sheet folded thereabout to bring the sides of the sheet and tab ends into adjacent relationship where they can be clamped or secured together by staples applied by anywell-known form of stapling device readily procurable upon the open market.

The ease with which my container may be assembled permits the same to be shipped and packed in fiat condition, thus requiring little space whereby the cost of handling, shipping and storage is greatly reduced.

It is apparent from the foregoing that I have provided a light-weight yet durable container which is cheap to manufacture because there is no waste of material, and which is also easily and readily assembled to provide a sanitary and convenient package which displays the product contained to the purchaser thereby fulfilling the requirements of successful merchandising.

I claim:

A package comprising a unitary sheet of flexible material wrapped around merchandise in snug fitting engagement therewith to provide a substantially tubular body with overlapping edges defining a contour whose cross sectional area is determined by said merchandise, end closures for said tubular body comprising tabs struck from said body and inwardly bent across the respective ends of the body, each tab having one end integral with the body at one side adjacent the respective end edge thereof and having its free end secured to the other side of the body, the width of each tab being such that it has an effec tive closure area substantially less than the cross sectional area of the tubular body, to simultaneously provide both a display window in one side of the package of an area insufiicient to permit passage therethrough of said merchandise, and a substantial opening alongside said tab.

WILLIAM V. ROBERTS. 

